PHNO-HL: PRESIDENT WANTS WAR, CORONA OFFERS PEACE / WIDENING RIFT ALARMS SENATORS


 


PRESIDENT WANTS WAR, CORONA OFFERS PEACE / WIDENING RIFT ALARMS SENATORS

MANILA, DECEMBER 5, 2011 (MANILA TIMES) PHOTO - President Benigno Aquino 3rd and Chief Justice Renato Corona, both obviously not seeing eye-to-eye, shake hands in the presence of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile during the First National Criminal Justice Summit held at the Manila Hotel on Monday. MALACAÑANG PHOTO

Aquino to Chief Justice: You're a midnight appointee!

Hell hath no fury like a President Benigno Aquino 3rd supposedly scorned many times in so short a time by a Supreme Court (SC) headed by Chief Justice Renato Corona, who also supposedly was undeserving of being the country's highest magistrate.

Apparently more than transparent enough in showing perceived bad manners, President Aquino on Monday berated Corona publicly during a summit on the country's criminal justice system that, ironically, was aimed in part at achieving unity and cooperation among the three branches of the government.

The President told the Chief Justice to his face that he was a midnight appointee and, therefore, he should vacate his post immediately.

To Corona's evident credit, he took everything thrown at him sitting down, earning praise from Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, among other allies of Mr. Aquino.

"Ngayon, kung may isang lingkod-bayan na tumatanaw ng utang ng loob, hindi sa taumbayan na siyang dapat na bukal ng aming kapangyarihan, kundi sa isang padron na isiniksik siya sa puwesto, maaasahan po kaya natin siyang intindihin ang interes ng Pilipino.
[Now, if there is a public servant who owes, not the people that should be the wellspring of the power of government officials like us, but a patron who squeezed him into his job at present, can we expect him to mind the interest of the Filipino]?" the President said in his speech at the First National Criminal Justice Summit held at the Manila Hotel.

He was referring not only to the Chief Justice, who was sitting right in front of him at the main table, but also to former President Gloria Arroyo, who had appointed Corona a week after the May 2010 national elections during her watch.

Mr. Aquino cited Article 7, Section 15, of the Constitution, which, according to him, states, "Ang isang Pangulo ay hindi dapat gumawa ng mga paghirang sa loob ng dalawang buwan bago sumapit ang susunod na halalang pampanguluhan at hanggang sa matapos ang kanyang taning ng panunungkulan, maliban na lamang sa mga pansamantalang paghirang sa mga katungkulang ehekutibo [A President should not appoint anyone two months before scheduled elections and after his term expires, except temporary executive appointments]."

"Ngunit alam naman po nating pinilit ni Ginang Arroyo na magtalaga pa rin ng Chief Justice. Hinirang siya, hindi dalawang buwan bago ang halalan, kundi isang linggo matapos ang eleksiyon. Base sa batas at sa dati nilang pasya, sumang-ayon ang Korte Suprema na bawal magtalaga ng pwesto dalawang buwan bago sumapit ang susunod na eleksyon, maliban na lamang kung ito ay pansamantalang posisyonsa ehekutibo. Ngunit bumaliktad sila nang italaga ni Ginang Arroyo si Renato Corona bilang Chief Justice, isang pwestong hindi saklaw ng ehekutibo, kundi sa hudikatura. Ang tanong ngayon: Lumabag ba ang Korte Suprema [But Mrs. Arroyo forced the appointment of a Chief Justice. He was appointed, not two months before the elections, but one week after the polls. Based on the law and on its past ruling, the Supreme Court agreed that it was illegal to make appointments two months before scheduled elections, except for temporary executive appointments. But the justices reversed themselves and allowed Mrs. Arroyo to name Renato Corona as Chief Justice. Did the Supreme Court violated the law]?" he asked.

Corona, who had been seated at the main table together with Mr. Aquino, when asked for his reaction after the speech of the President, said, "Relax lang kayo [Just take it easy]."

The President avoided staying longer at the table, coming out only when he was called to deliver his speech right after Corona, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. gave theirs.

He and the Chief Justice, however, shook hands before and after Mr. Aquino's speech but also avoided eye contact.

Corona, who will retire two years after the end of the term of the incumbent leader in 2016, was chief of staff of Mrs. Arroyo when she was a senator and then president.

During a Malacañang press briefing later on Monday, spokesman Edwin Lacierda clarified that the President was not zeroing in on Corona but on the entire Supreme Court, particularly its "unclear" decisions.

Lacierda admitted that the Palace was still undecided on what to do next after the President's second public flogging of Corona in less than a week.

On December 2, in his speech before the elite Makati Business Club, Mr. Aquino slammed the High Court for its "judicial uncertainty," also citing rulings in the past that he said created confusions.

In his Monday speech, he again ranted against the SC's decisions rejecting cases involving the Aquino administration, among them the "Truth Commission," which according to the President would have investigated cases of alleged corruption of the Arroyo administration.

Mr. Aquino also cited another SC ruling that declared constitutional the creation of an additional district in Camarines Sur province in Bicol Region.

His mention of the new Camarines Sur district was a swipe at the Arroyos since the creation of the district was deemed a political accommodation.

The district was slashed from the district of Rep. Dato Arroyo, a son of the former leader.

Dark days Mr. Aquino told his audience at the summit that his main premise was based on "accountability," which was enunciated by the Constitution.

"Bilang inyong Pangulo, may sinumpaan akong tungkulin, ang pangangalagaan at ipagtatanggol ang konstitusyon, ipatupad ang mga batas nito, maging makatarungan sa bawat tao, at italaga ang aking sarili sa paglilingkod sa bansa. At bahagi ng aking mandato ang tiyaking hindi na maulit ang mga kadilimang nangyari noong panahon ng martial law, at kung may gumawa man nito, ang siguruhing managot sila sa kanilang kasalanan [As your President, I took an oath, to protect and defend the Constitution, enforce the law, serve justice to all and serve the country. And part of my mandate is to ensure that the darkness of martial law would not fall on us again, and also to ensure that whoever brings it back would pay for it]," he said.

In calling for calm amid the brickbats thrown at him by the President, Corona during a chance interview said that "peace" is all that he wants to mark his ties with Malacanang.

He had bowed his head while Mr. Aquino was attacking him and the Supreme Court.

"Hayaan na natin. Magpapasko na [Let it go. It is almost Christmas]. Let's speak of peace," the Chief Justice said during the interview.

During the summit, the only SC justices present were Corona and Bienvenido Reyes, a friend of the President.

Also present were justices from the Sandiganbayan, Court of Appeals, Court of Tax Appeals and lower courts.

"Harap-harapan binanatan ni Presidente si Chief Justice. What he did was unpresidential and it is an act of unstatesmanship [The President blatantly ridiculed the Chief Justice. What he did was unpresidential and an act of unstatesmanship]," a justice who requested anonymity told The Manila Times.

Another magistrate said that Mr. Aquino's attack was uncalled for.

"Ang sakit naman ng ginawa ni Presidente kay Chief Justice. Pero si Chief Justice naman ang mas lilitaw na kristiyano sa pagkakataong iyon sa kanyang pagpapakumbaba [It was painful what the President did to Corona. But Corona will be seen as the better Christian because of his humility]," said another justice, who also requested anonymity.

De Lima said that she was impressed with the reaction of Corona, describing it as "very cool, very professional."

WIDENING PALACE-SC RIFT ALARMS SENATORS

ALARMED by the raging "war" between Malacañang and the Supreme Court (SC), senators on Monday expressed willingness to act as referees in a bid to cool down rising tensions between the two co-equal branches of government.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada, Majority Leader Vicente Sotto 3rd, Senators Panfilo Lacson and Gregrorio Honasan admitted that the tensions between the executive and judiciary could pose a danger to the people and should be resolved immediately.

"I just would like to volunteer, if they want me to volunteer, to act as middleman or referee para magka-ayusan na ang [ so there will be harmony between the] executive and judiciary because that might prove disastrous for our people," Estrada said.

The four senators said that President Benigno Aquino 3rd and Chief Justice Renato Corona and other members of the executive and judiciary should sit down to settle their differences.

Honasan and Lacson said that the meeting should be in private and far from the prying eyes of the media.

"It is high time that they [executive and judiciary] should meet privately without the presence of media to iron out their differences," said Honasan.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said that Malacañang and the Supreme Court should tone down the word war.

Court Administrator and SC spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said that while it is the prerogative of the president to speak his mind, the court found it "quite disturbing" that Mr. Aquino's tirade was delivered during the First National Criminal Justice System Summit organized by the High Tribunal and the Departments of Justice and Interior and Local Government.

"It is not at all unusual for the executive branch to disagree with the judicial branch," Marquez said. "However, what is considerably unusual is for the Chief Executive to look down on members of the judiciary in public at a Justice Sector Coordinating Council session and to their faces denounce the Court's independent actions as the Chief Justice sat speechless, motionless and expressionless because of the requirements of protocol."Marquez said that the SC gave assurances that the tribunal will continue to perform its constitutional mandate.

"Our system of government is bound by the rule of law by written Constitution and the justices of the court will continue to interpret what the law is in accordance with their respective appreciation of given set of facts and applicable laws taking into consideration their respective beliefs and philosophies," he noted.

Marquez reminded the President of the institutional importance of the SC in Philippine democracy.

While it is recognized that the three co-equal branches of government have a system of proper checks and balances, he said that "no one department has overruling influence over the other regardless of how popular one branch is at a given period of time as the accumulation of all powers in the same hands whether one, a few or many or whether appointed or elected may justly be the very definition of tyranny."

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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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